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Major league baseball legend Minnie Minoso, known as the Cuban Comet and Mr. White Sox, has died. Minoso, who hailed from Havana, Cuba, played 12 of his 17 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, after getting his start in the majors with the Cleveland Indians in 1949.

The left fielder hit 135 homers and 808 RBIs for the White Sox. His number 9 was retired by the team in 1983, and today there's a statue of Minoso at the field where the White Sox play.

Minoso was one of the major league's first black Latino stars. The peak of his fame came in the 1950s, but his career stretched into the 1980s, with stints in the Mexican League, coaching gigs and occasional returns to bat in the US majors.

, Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the team, said, ""Our organization and our city have suffered a heart-breaking loss today ... We have lost our dear friend and a great man. Many tears are falling."


The statement elaborated on Minoso's groundbreaking career:

After he joined the White Sox, the team notes, he "became so popular that the club saluted him with a 'day' late in his fine rookie season."

The White House issued a statement Sunday honoring Minoso's life. In it, President Obama said Minoso had to overcome particular obstacles as a black man in major league baseball:


Minoso, whose full name is Saturnino Orestes Armas Minoso Arrieta, was born near Havana, Cuba, in a town called El Perico. His parents worked in sugarcane fields; the 

 says Minnie also did the same work before he started playing baseball.


 Minoso died early Sunday morning "from a tear in his pulmonary artery caused by 'chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,' an autopsy found Sunday afternoon." There are conflicting reports on Minoso's age, but his family has concluded he was 90 years old when he died, according to the Tribune.
In an 

, Minoso looked back on his career and the hardships he faced as a black baseball player decades ago. He said the fans were more important that any insults he had to deal with:


Sports

Sam Sanders

Author

Minoso, who hailed from Havana, Cuba, played 12 of his 17 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, after getting his start in the majors with the Cleveland Indians in 1949.

Minnie Minoso, baseball's first black Latino star, dies

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